Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 002-2122
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
1. How many people have died in each of your hospitals between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020? 153
2. How many people have died in your hospitals from Covid-19 alone between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020? As in they died ONLY due to Covid-19 and did not have any comorbidities at the time of death..
3. How many people have died in your hospitals from Covid-19 between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020? As in they died due to Covid-19 but they did have comorbidities at the time of their death..
With the Data filtered:
By Hospital showing deaths per month per hospital between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020. Questions 2 and 3 are responded to in a combined manner, as the answer to these questions is not straightforward and requires some explanation. Please see our response below. All patients who met the criteria for NHS England Covid-19 related deaths i.e. positive Covid-19 test result within 28 days of death or Covid-19 recorded on the death certificate, regardless of test result. had comorbidities at the time of their death. However, the cause of a person’s death is a judgment made by the doctor who completes the patient’s death certificate, or Medical Certificate of Cause of Death MCCD..
The MCCD is split into 2 sections, Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 is where the doctor records what, in their judgement, the immediate cause of death to be. Part 2 is where the doctor can record other comorbidities that are judged to be contributory to the death, i.e. may have hastened the person’s death, but are not related to the immediate cause of death, recorded at Part 1. This means that in addition to the immediate cause of death recorded at Part 1, none to all of the patient’s comorbidities may be recorded at Part 2 of the MCCD, subject to the doctor’s judgement. Thus, for a patient who passes away within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, the doctor makes a judgment whether to record Covid-19 at Part 1 of the MCCD, at Part 2 of the MCCD, or not at all if they deem the infection was non-contributory to the patient’s death.. The subjective nature of this decision making process, particularly comorbidities recorded at Part 2 of the MCCD, may explain why NHS England and the Government made the decision to collect data on all deaths within 28 days of a positive test result, irrespective of whether Covid-19 is recorded on the MCCD.
Table 2 below summarises Covid-19 related inpatient deaths which have occurred from 01/02-31/12/20 and whether Covid-19 was recorded at Part 1 or Part 2 of the MCCD, or not recorded at all, across all hospital sites, broken down by month:
Month Covid-19 recorded at Part 1 MCCD Covid-19 recorded at Part 2 MCCD Covid-19 not recorded on MCCD
Apr-20 26 1 3
May-20 5 1 1
Jun-20 0 1 0
Jul-20 0 0 0
Aug-20 0 0 0
Sep-20 0 0 0
Oct-20 0 0 0
Nov-20 4 0 0
Dec-20 8 2 2
Total 43 5 6
Of the deaths in the above table, 4 had Covid-19 recorded at Part I of the MCCD with no other comorbidities recorded at Part 2. These 4 patients did, however, have comorbidities at the time of their death. Therefore, it can be concluded that the doctors completing these patients MCCDs judged that the comorbidities did not hasten the patients’ deaths. Table 3 below shows the number of Covid-19 related as per NHS England reporting criteria. across all sites broken down by Hospital Site and month:
Should you have any queries in relation to our response in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:-
Associate Director of Corporate Governance Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth
GLOUCESTER GL3 4AW
——-
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office ICO. for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
On behalf of Gloucestershire Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust
FOI Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with the following information, as I require this information for a project I am currently undertaking:
I can see the figures that you publish online, but these are deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, so they could have died from other causes.
I just want to know the exact figures between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020 for the following questions:
Question 1
How many people have died in each of your hospitals between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020?
Question 2
How many people have died in your hospitals from Covid-19 alone between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020?
As in they died ONLY due to Covid-19 and did not have any comorbidities at the time of death..
with the Data filtered :
· By Hospital showing deaths per month per hospital between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020.
Question 3
How many people have died in your hospitals from Covid-19 between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020?
As in they died due to Covid-19 but they did have comorbidities at the time of their death..
with the Data filtered :
· By Hospital showing deaths per month per hospital between 1st February 2020 until the 31st December 2020.
I understand that under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request.
I would prefer to receive the information electronically and the Data contained in the form of a Microsoft Excel Workbook would be preferable.
If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions and/or omissions by reference to specific exemptions of the act and include the name of the persons. instructing the information to be omitted as I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information.
If you require any clarification, I expect you to contact me under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of this Freedom Of Information request problematic.
Please acknowledge receipt of this request, and I look forward to receiving the information on or before 29th January 2021.